


Hit Me With Your Best Shot

by ZombieBabs



Series: TBTP Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: The Black Tapes Podcast
Genre: Boxing & Fisticuffs, Comment Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 08:53:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5450720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieBabs/pseuds/ZombieBabs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex teaches Dr. Strand to box.</p><p>*Edited 7.20.17</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hit Me With Your Best Shot

**Author's Note:**

> Based loosely on a [post](http://the-wonderful-jinx.tumblr.com/post/135411316434/honestly-ive-been-thinking-that-since-episode-1) on tumblr.

Strand fiddles with the gloves on his hands.

He looks different, standing there without his usual suit. He's dressed instead in a loose fitting T-shirt and gym shorts. Alex likes his suits, but seeing him dressed down makes something in her stomach flutter. He's just as handsome, but far more approachable. Especially when he looks so out of place, like has has no idea what to do with himself.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” he says. 

Alex grins. “C’mon, don’t you trust me?”

Strand frowns. “Of course.”

Alex ducks into the ring. When she turns around, he’s still standing in the same spot. “Then what's the worst that could happen?”

He gives her a look, the same look he gives whenever someone says something he finds particularly obvious. “I could hurt you.”

Alex laughs. “Relax. I promise, you won’t hurt me. We’re not actually going to be fighting.”

He does as she says, awkwardly folding his long limbs in order to duck under the ropes and climb onto the platform. Watching him, she nearly laughs again, but she promised she would go easy on him when she first convinced him to join her at the gym.

Strand turns expectant blue eyes on her.

“Ok, good." Alex says. "I’m just going to go over some really basic stuff with you. Watch.” Alex positions herself next to him and takes up the typical stance. “You’re gonna want to bend your knees a little to keep your center of gravity low. Then you put up your arms like this."

He looks at her for a long second and then mimics her pose. “Like this?”

"Yep!" She twists one of her wrists, indicating the glove just in front of her face. "This one is going to generally be the one you want to block with, but that’s not always going to be the case.”

He makes an adjustment.

Alex studies his posture. Good, for a beginner. "That's good, but hold on a second. Don’t move.” 

Alex relaxes and moves in front of him. “You mind?”

He shakes his head. Alex uses her own gloved hand to raise his defending hand a little higher. “You don’t want anyone hitting your face, so you have to protect it. Make sense?”

He looks intent, like he's filing away all of this new information in that giant brain of his. Like he'll have to recall every little detail for a test later. “Yes, thank you.”

Alex scrunches up her face, unable to keep the grin off of it. “You’re so polite. Okay, now we’re going to do some basic punches. Ready?”

When he indicates he is, she continues. “Great. The first one is called a jab. It looks like this.”

Alex throws a quick, straight punch. “See the way my hips move with me? You try.”

Strand tries to emulate her, but he’s stiff and unpracticed. Not unlike her when she first started. 

“Not bad," she says. "Not good, but you’ll get there.”

Her teasing does just what she intends it to do. Strand laughs and some of his muscles relax.

Alex goes through a few more punches. She corrects Strand as they go, showing him the motions a few times before he mimics her movements. Before long, he has a healthy flush coloring his pale cheeks. They don't stop until they're both covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

As they duck out of the ring and make their way to their respective locker rooms, Strand asks, “What made you decide to learn all of this?”

“My dad wouldn’t hear of me living alone without knowing how to protect myself. He suggested karate, but I never really got into it. I saw this guy at my gym practicing on a dummy and knew I wanted to box.”

Strand looks at his sneakers and then back at her. “Did he teach you? The man at the gym?”

Alex laughs. “No. I started with videos off the web. Then once I got a little more comfortable, I joined a real gym with an actual trainer.”

Strand smiles. “I’m glad that you found something you enjoy. You’ll have to show me what you can do. Next time. If you would like to do this again, that is.”

She's so glad she was able to share something she loves with him. And to have him enjoy it enough to come back makes her almost giddy. “Definitely!”

Just before they part to enter their respective locker rooms, Alex punches Strand’s shoulder. “Let’s get coffee after this.”

“Certainly." Strand rubs at his arm where she hit him, clearly not having expected it. "Just remind me not to upset you in the future.”

Alex pushes open the door to the ladies locker room with a grin. “Sure thing.”

**Author's Note:**

> *Edited 7.20.17


End file.
